The (Dis)organizing Property of Communication

Author:

• Ryan S. Bisel (University of Kansas)

Abstract:

This investigation tested current organizational communication theory, which posits that organization emerges in talk. Three experiments employing a total of 510 participants giving- and receiving-instructions demonstrated that some features of talk interfered with dyads and individuals' ability complete a conjunctive referential communication task accurately and efficiently. Testing the emergence of error and inefficiency in organizational talk takes the organization-communication equivalency argument seriously enough to presume that when communication fails, so too does organizing.